"Fire! Wake up!" Graystripe yowls.
Frostfur stumbles out of the warriors den, her eyes wide with fear."
"We must leave the camp at once!" he orders. "Tell Bluestar the forest is on fire!"
He runs to the elder's den and calls through the brambles of the fallen oak, "Fire! Get out!" Then he races to where the apprentices are clambering drowsily from their nests. "Leave the camp! Head for the river!" Cloudpaw's bewildered face stares at him, still dazed by sleep. "Head for the river!" He repeats urgently to his apprentice.
Frostfur is already helping Bluestar access the shadowy clearing. The leader's face is a grotesque mask if fear as the white warrior nudges her with her nose.
"This way!" he yowls, beckoning with his tail before rushing to help Frostfur guide Bluestar towards the entrance. Cats are streaming on either side of them, their fur bristling with fear.
The forest seems to roar around them, and above the noise comes a hideous two-tone wailing and the frantic barking of twolegs as they crash through the frost. Smoke billows thickly into the clearing now and behind it the light of the fire grows even brighter as it rains down on the camp.
Not until she is outside does Bluestar begin to run, caught in the jostling stream of cats surging up and out of the ravine. "Head for the river," he orders again, "Keep an eye on your denmates. Do not lose sight of each other." He feels an eerie calm within him, like a pool of icy water, as he leads his clanmates while noise, heat and panic rage outside.
Darting back to round up Willowpelt's kits as they struggle to keep up with their mother. She's carrying the smallest one in her mouth, her eyes stricken with fear above the bundle that bumps against her forelegs.
"Where's Goldenflower?" He demands, worrying for her, her kits and his kits.
Willowpelt signals with her nose, pointing up the ravine. Graystripe nods, relief flooding through him that she made it safely out of camp. Though his and her kits are small, he looks back at the camp and hopes all of them got out safely along with Goldenflower. Calling to Longtail, who is already halfway up the rocky slope. As the warrior scrambles back down, he scoops another one of Willowpelt's kits and passes it to Mousefur, who has raced up behind him. Picking up the third and when Longtail reaches his side he passes the kit to the striped warrior. "Stay near Willowpelt!" He orders the two warriors, knowing the queen will only keep on running on the knowledge that her kits are safe.
Standing at the bottom of the ravine he watches the cats scramble upward. Clouds of smoke swirl across the sky. Is Starclan watching this? He wonders briefly. Lowering his eyes, he sees Bluestar's thick gray pelt reach the top, bundled by the other cats. Finally he follows, glancing over his shoulder as he scrambles up the rocky ravine to see fire stretching greedy orange tongues ripping through the bone-dry bracken towards the camp.
Scrambling up onto the ridge he calls to the fleeing cats, "Wait!" They stop and turn to face him. Smoke stings Graystripe eyes as he peers at his clanmates through the choking clouds. "Is any cat missing?" he demands, scanning the faces.
"Where are Halftail and Patchpelt?" Cloudpaw's voice rises in a terrified mew.
He sees heads turning to look questioningly at one another, and Smallear answers,
"They're not with me."
"They must still be in camp!" Whitestorm mews.
"Where's Bramblekit?" Goldenflower's desperate wail rises through the trees above the noise of the fire. "He was behind me along with my other kits when I was climbing the ravine!"
He's glad his kits and Tawnykit are safe. But worry gnaws at him about Bramblekit. His mind reels, three of his clanmates are missing. "I'll find them." he promises, "It's too dangerous for you to stay any longer. Whitestorm and Longtail, make sure the rest of the clan make it to the river."
"You can't go back down there!" Sandstorm protests, forcing her way through the cats to stand beside him. Her eyes searching his desperately.
"I have to try and save them. They are our clanmates." Graystripe replies, determined to try and save Bramblekit, Halftail and Patchpelt. Goldenflower loves her kits dearly and if one of them dies, he shakes himself, he won't allow it.
"I'm coming too."
"No! Stay with Whitestorm, we are already short of warriors and I want you to stay safe. I don't want another cat I care about to die. They need your help."
Noticing the doubt shimmering in her eyes, he mews, "I"ll come back I promise."
"Then I'll come!"
Staring in horror he watches as Cinderpelt limps forward. "I"m no warrior," she mews, "I'd be no use anyway if we met an enemy patrol."
"No way!" He spits. He could not allow the one thing in the clan besides Cloudpaw that reminds him of Fireheart die either. Cinderpelt is his friend, alongside Sandstorm and Longtail he can't lose her either. Then he sees the matted gray pelt of Yellowfang shouldering her way through."
"I may be old, but I'm steadier on my paws than you." the old Medicine cat tells Cinderpelt. "The Clan will need your healing skills. I'll go with Graystripe. You stay with the Clan."
Cinderpelt opens her mouth to protest, but he snaps, "There's no time to argue. Go with the Clan to the river. Yellowfang, follow me."
Turning back to the camp before Cinderpelt can argue, he begins to race his way back down the ravine into the smoke and heat below.
Terrified, he forces himself to keep running when he reaches the bottom of the ravine. He can hear Yellowfang gasping behind him. He's worried for her health, as she also is a reminder of Fireheart and a friend to him. The smoke makes every breath painful, even for his young lungs. Bright flames flicker just beyond the wall of the camp, tearing greedily at the carefully woven ferns, but they haven't reached the clearing yet. The elder's den is nearest and Graystripe struggles half-blind because of the smoke towards it. He can hear the crackling of flames as they lick at the far side of the fallen oak.
The heat here is so intense, it feels like the fire will burst through into the camp at any moment.
Seeing the shape of Halftail slumped below a branch with Patchpelt lying beside him, his jaws buried in Halftail's scruff as if the elder was trying to get his friend to safety before he collapses.
He stops in dismay, but Yellowfang has already rushed past him and begins dragging Halftail's body towards the camp entrance.
"Don't just stand there." She growls through a mouthful of fur. "Help me get them out of here."
Grasping Patchpelt's scruff in his jaws he pulls the elder actress the smoke-filled clearing and into the tunnel. He struggles not to cough as he tugs Patchpelt through the gorse. Its sharp spins clutching at the old cats matted fur. Reaching the bottom of the ravine he begins to scramble upwards. Patchpelt twitches in his jaws, and he feels the elders body convulse as he retches a series of violent spasms. He is relieved the elder is okay, but the spasms worry him. Pushing onwards up the steep slope his neck aches from the weight of the unconscious cat.
At the top of the ravine after dragging Patchpelt onto the flat rocks, the old tom lies there wheezing and helpless, making Graystripe worried for the elder. Turning to look for Yellowfang he sees the Medicine cat struggling out of the gorse tunnel, her flanks heaving as she fights against the deadly smoke. The trees that have sheltered the clan are being swallowed up by fire, their trunks enveloped in the flames. Yellowfang stares up at him with Halftail clutched in her jaws, her orange eyes huge. Flexing his hind legs, he gets ready to jump down and help her, but terrified mewing makes him up.
Peering through the billowing smoke, he sees Bramblekit clinging to the branches of a small tree that sprouted from the side of the ravine. The bark of the tree is already smoldering and as Bramblekit cries desperately, the trunk bursts into flame.
Without thinking he leaps at the blazing tree. Digging his claws into the trunk above the flames he hauls himself up to the kit. The fire races up the trunk behind him, licking at the bark as Graystripe reaches forward, wobbling a bit, and lunges for the kit. The tiny tom is clinging to a branch, his eyes tightly shut and his mouth open wide in a silent scream. Grabbing the kit with his jaws he almost loses his balance as Bramblekit lets go immediately and swings down into thin air. With his teeth still embedded in Bramblekit's scruff, he manages to keep his hold on the rough bark.
Looking back down at the trunk, there is no way he can climb down now as the flames fiercely lick close to the branch they are on. He has to go as far along the branch as he can and then jump down on the ground. Clenching his jaws, and blocking out Bramblekit's screams he creeps away from the trunk.
The branch dips and sways under his weight, but he keeps moving forward. He has to get Bramblekit back to Goldenflower. One more pawstep and he tenses ready to jump. Behind him the flames scorch his pelt, filling his nostrils with the bitter scent of burning fur. The branch dips again, this time with an ominous splintering sound. Starclan help me! He silently prays to his warrior ancestors. Shutting his eyes, he flexes his hind legs and leaps towards the ground.
A loud crack splits the air. Graystripe lands with a thud that almost knocks the breath out of him. Scrambling to find a claw hold on the side of the ravine, he twists his head around. Horror spreads through him as he sees that the fire has burned right through the trunk, sending the whole tree toppling into the ravine.
Alive with flames, the tree crashes away from the terrified cat, hiding the entrance to the camp in a wall of burning branches. There is no way he can reach Yellowfang now.